The Queen is Dead -- Long Live the Queen

This is not exactly the first time in 70 years that someone has pointed out Britain spent centuries pillaging other countries and other cultures. Her comment was not really about the crown.

 

I wonder if part of the reason the royal family became such a celebrity attraction was because of the relative novelty of a woman in charge. I don’t think people would get as attached to an old white dude in charge, because they can see that virtually anywhere. I wonder if after the initial coronation fever if royals tourism experiences a decline.

 

George VI, Queen Elizabeth II's father, was born Albert Frederick Arthur George (The last two of Charles' four "first" names are also Arthur George). Charles Phillip Arthur George could've chosen any of those names as his regnal designation.

George VI's older brother, Edward -- Edward VIII -- was the reason "Bertie," as Albert was known, became king at all, after the former abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson.

 

I wonder if Ukraine President Zelensky tweeted that.

 

And before he took the throne, briefly (probably a good thing), Edward VIII was typically known throughout the family as David.

On another nomenclature note, my mother and I got into a lengthy argument over The Queen Mother many years ago. I was absolutely certain that "Queen Mother" was somehow part of Elizabeth II's titles. So sure, in fact, that mom likes to remind me of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother just about every time the topic of the royals comes up.

One thing that has been fascinating today is reading the discourse related to the Premier League calling off its schedule for this weekend (and very possibly next weekend). It appears that the FA (whose president just happens to be the new Prince of Wales) chose to wipe everything out either before rugby and cricket decided to press on or in spite of that fact, and there have been conflicting reports that the police did or didn't have a hand in it given the manpower demands that might entail. The fact is there are dozens if not hundreds of people who came from around the world and are totally screwed now because the games have been called off and will be rescheduled to a point well after they leave the country.

As mentioned upthread, I saw Villa v. Everton four weeks ago. Just the plane ticket was a shade over a grand, and I probably did better than most, not to mention the cost of the ticket, lodging and ground transportation. I didn't come solely for Villa but if that had happened to me, I would have felt aggrieved to say the least. I didn't come solely for that, but if I had the worst part of it wouldn't have necessarily being out that money, it's the fact that I may not be of the means to make that trip for a very long time. On the other hand, if you look at replies to people who are at the least disappointed if not outright pissed, many UK people are considering complaining about that to be disrespectful both to the Queen and to the culture itself. There is a distinct problem with "street cred" for lack of a better term for non-native fans and this particular event has been laying that bare.

 

Shit. The Premier League/Sky/BT Sport does this all the time. The queen's death is one of the more justifiable, shit happens type of reasons, though my English (re: Leeds) friends I consort with are mostly annoyed that the matches are postponed.

Most of the time? Fixture movement is totally at the whim of what Sky/BT Sport want to broadcast. I think they only have to give a few weeks notice.

One of the biggest complaints English fans have about the EPL (and EFL for that matter) is how they fuck with the fixtures. For them? Arranging a train, etc., when a game is moved from Saturday to Sunday on short notice is a royal pain. Which proves your point about the effect it has on foreign fans.

 

Part of it maybe a generation gap as well, older people look more favorably on the monarchy, while younger people think It’s silly.

 

Obligatory

 

Would you rather live in a realm or a territory?

And does living in a realm mean?

 

Except the older people today weren’t monarchists when they were younger. The boomers and gen x of Britain were yelling at Charles and Andrew to get a bloody job back in the 70s and 80s.

 

From the networks, I didn’t see many white reporters in Minneapolis after George Floyd.

Now it’s a network whitewash at Buckingham. Perhaps the uncomfortable colonization of Africa as legacy at play?

My last station, our weekend anchor (who is Black) to my boss: “you know, you don’t always have to assign me to a story every time the cops beat up a Black driver..”